Monday, August 31, 2009

Prawn Patia -- straight from Persia

Today was not a day in my dysfunctional "to do list" to write a post. No, today was a day for me to wallow in self pity for the simple reason that my child has grown up and is no longer a Kindergartner and is going to Grade 1 tomorrow.

Not my fault, solely nature's, I mean the "growing up" part. But as a Mom it is my birth right to put my hormones to full use and make a big senti deal of the whole growing up thing. The way Moms pine about the baby growing up you would think they are happiest cleaning poop and staying awake through the night. But all that sentimental mush would have done nicely for a post and with a balanced dose of nostalgia, melodrama and some pre-school rhymes it could have soared my blog hits.

I had even thought up choice phrases to write a teary post about how the little baby who looked into my eyes 5 year 8 months 3hours and 45 minutes back is no longer little and entering the big bad world (actually a school only fifteen mins away from home) .But all that will have to wait, for there is a fishy situation.

A Bong Mom or (maybe a true Bong Dad but not the resident one) will abandon fisrt born's milestones for the love of fish and that is exactly what happened here. Indrani sent me a reminder about the Fish event at her blog and luck had it that there was a brand new, still smelling fresh ,fish recipe sitting in my draft which was only waiting to be posted for a fishy event.

It is called Prawn Patia or Prawn Paatia or something similar. I had no clue that this dish existed, I am pretty clueless you might think but that is the truth. So I was clueless until I saw this name in Kalyan's blog. He is a clever Bong guy whose best half is a Parsi, a very intelligent thing to do, i.e. to marry into another culture, that way you get to sample lots of variety in food at home itself. Now though I have hardly ever had Parsi food, I have this fascination for Parsi food. So when I saw that Prawn Patiawas a Parsi dish, I simply had to make it.

Kalyan had no recipe in his blog or maybe I wasn't able to find one, so the recipe I thought would be most fitting for such a dish is from RecipeZaar. I adapted the recipe and the result was delicious. All those whole coriander, cumin and fennel used for tempering added a lovely new flavor to the dish. I also dry roasted and ground a part of the above spices to make a powder which was not called for but I used in the recipe. I gave the tamarind a miss, the vinegar provided the tartness that suited our taste.The only thing I wasn't too sure of was the consistency of the gravy, any verdict ?

When the spices start popping lower the heat and add the wet onion paste. Fry this for 20-25 minutes at medium heat till you see it turning golden and there is no raw smell. This will need some time, don't try to hasten the process.

I think ami sabaike jor kore post karachchi amar event-er jonno...kintu ekta great recipe to pelam...sounds just yummm with prawn..try kartei habe, thanks Bong mom for this recipe..I know, how it feels when your 1st kid goes to school for the 1st day, I was so nervous and happy at the same time and my that kid is on 6th gd. now

I had something smart to say about your post besides 'very funny and nice' but suddenly forgot - will come back and comment if I remember. I wish I'd known about this event - I have frozen prawns waiting in the fridge.

hi! have been lurking for some time now- i love ur blog, the recipes and the stories. anyway, just wanted to say, i'm maharashtrian and have grown up eating prawn patiya but it was very interesting to read about the parsi legacy which i was completely unaware of!! of course, the patiya we make is completely different (more tomato puree based, no cream etc) but the recipe has been in the family for generations and am sure that each person added their own twists to it ...

Kainaz' granny would have loved reading the post. Prawn patio was one of here favourite dishes. Here's more on her

http://finelychopped-k.blogspot.com/2008/10/mamma-and-me.html

Pran patio has to be on the thicker side. It's almost like a pickle.

It's a "parsi" dish, made by Parsis who migrated to India from Persia. This could explain the Couch papaya's confusion. Parsi's drew from Gaujarati and Maharashtrian cultures after settling in Western India. Hence the similarities.

You will hardly find any Parsi recipes in my blog. My wife doesn't make any in the rare occasions when she enters the kitchen! This was the only one I could find http://finelychopped-k.blogspot.com/2008/01/importance-of-being-egg.html

Coincidentally I had a lovely Parsi lunch at a place called By The Way in Mumbai where the food is cooked by elderly parsi ladies and the money goes to charities for drstitute girls.

And you are right, marrying my wife was the smartest thing I ever did :)

Hmm a recipe that is a cross between Bengali and Parsi - I suspect nothing could be more delicious! Will try for sure. Have eaten much Parsi food in BOmbay - one word YUM. Try dhansaak as well, though there are so many recipes on the net, it is hard to know what is authentic. Will see if ti exists on Kalyan's blog...

I have no clue about the origin of this recipe. Read Kalyan's comments. Maybe there is a overlap of the two cultures given that there are a lot of Parsis in Mumbai ?But the cream that I added was purely my contribution, the RECIPE did NOT call for it

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Predominantly a Bong, who loves being a Mom and loves to cook among other things for the li'l one and the big ones.She loves to write too and you will find her food spiced up with stories. Mainly a collection of Bengali Recipes with other kinds thrown in, in good measure. A Snapshot of Bengali Cuisine